Tire.



L. WARFIELD.

TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 10, 1912 Patented Feb. 10,1914,

E ll? it l/V VE N TOR WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIGE.

LEWIS WARFIELD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TIRE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LEWIS VVARFIELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tires, of-

which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to tires, and with respect to certain more specific features thereof, to a resilient vehicle tire.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a practical and eflicient device of the type described which shall be light and durable.

Another object of the invention is to provide an efficient device of the type described which shall not be apt to get out of order.

Another object is to provide a device of the type described, capable of preventing substantially the entrance of foreign matter to the inner portions thereof.

Another object is to provide a device of the type described which may be easily and cheaply made.

Another object is to provide a device of the type described of convenient dimensions which may be rapidly mounted and demounted.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the drawings wherein is shown one of the various possible embodiments of the invention, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of the mounted tire on the line 11 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 represents a transverse section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 represents a sectional detail view of one of the bowed springs; and Fig. 4: represents a plan view of one of the bowed springs.

Similar reference numerals refer to simi- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 10, 1912.

latter in place.

Patented Feb. 10, 1914.

Serial No. 714,331.

lar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

In the drawing, 1 designates a felly upon which is mounted a demountable rim 2, having upturned edges 3 which may be held in place by any convenient means, here shown as comprising bolt members coacting with a felly band t and a wedge 5. The outer extremities of members 4 and 5 are adapted to coact with the rim 2 to hold the The rim 2 is provided with upturned curving edges 3, providing a rim structure of the so-called clencher type. The upturned members 3 of this demountable rim are adapted to coact with the extremities of bowed springs (3, which are resilient and are mounted in a series about the rim, as shown more clearly in Fig. 1.

Each of the bowed springs 6 is separate and is made up, preferably, of thin sheet steel, although other material may be used if desired. Each spring may be stamped out and subsequently mounted upon the demountable rim 2 and is preferably so formed that it tapers in both width and thickness from adjacent the center .to each extremity thereof. Thus, when bent into shape, the greatest breadth of the spring will be adjacent the tread and the least will be adjacent the rim, thus preventing crowding between successive springs in series.

Adjacent the medium line of the spring running longitudinally throughout the length thereof is a shoulder portion 7 providing in the coil an upper portion 8 and a lower portion 9. According to this construction the shoulder portion 7 divides each coil into portions of unequal diameter, the portion 8 being of larger diameter than the portion 9.

As here shown, the upper portion 8, adjacent a point about midway between the extremities of the spring, is provided with a portion 10 of an additional thickness to that of the tire at this point, providing a tread, which is flat and, when the spring is in position, as shown in Fig. 2, extends on either side of the longitudinal axis of the tire for a total distance equal to approximately one-half of the diameter of the tire. The flattened upper surface. of the tread ends somewhat abruptly and joins gently curving portions 11, which extend therefrom longitudinally of the spring to adjacent the extremities thereof.

As shown more clearlyin Fig. 1, the springs are so mounted that the thickened portion 8 of one spring is superposed upon the thinner lower portion 9 of the adjacent spring on one side thereof and its thinner portion 9 underlies the thickened portion 8 of the succeeding spring on the other side thereof. Thus, upon the outer surface of the completed tire are a series of successive tread portions 10 which are adapted to take up the greater portion of the wear of the tire. Each successive tread portion is separated from the ones on either side thereof by small spaces 12, and, correspondingly, the lower thinner portion of each successive spring is separated from the ones on either side thereof by small spaces 13. The spaces 12 and 13 serve to provide a certain amount of play between the springs to permit a certain additional give thereof. On account of this provision the springs are better able to withstand severe shocks and strains arising in use. It will be noted at the same time that the coacting upper and under surfaces of the portions 8 and 9 fit so snugly that dirt and foreign matter are practically excluded from the interior of the tire.

As shown more clearly in Fig. 2, the curved extremities of the successive springs are turned upwardly, the curve 14 of the upper portion 8 being of smaller diameter than the curve 15 on the lower portion 9. According to this provision when the springs are mounted, as indicated above, the smaller curved portion 14 of the portion 8 of larger diameter of one of the springs will be fitted into and interlocked with the larger curved portion 15 of the portion of smaller diameter 9 of a spring on one side thereof, while the larger curved portion 15 of the portion 9 of the spring first mentioned will fit about and hold the smaller curved portion 14 of the port-ion 8 of another spring on the other side thereof.

The extremities of the springs are preferably so formed that they are resilient, and in mounting them upon the rim 2, the extremities are pressed inwardly so that the outer periphery of the springs 15 engages the periphery of the upturned clencher portions 3 of the rim. When the metallic springs have been thus mounted, the natural spring of the extremities will tend to clench them against the rim, and this clenching action will be accentuated when any pressure is brought upon the upper surface of the tire; for example, the tread. According to the construction outlined, a steel tire is provided, comprising a series of steel scales which overlap throughout the length of the tire.

It is to be noted that the springs may be mounted upon the rim as indicatedv and the whole sold as a unit, thus providing a convenient manner of mounting for distribution and a minimum effort to the user in placing the tire in position upon the wheel.

The construction outlined is exceedingly simple to manufacture and may be readily applied to the standard types of wheels, is practically mud-proof and in general, due to the positioning and structure of the springs, is adapted to exclude foreign mat-. ter from the interior of the tire. The tire thus formed is a practical and eflicient structure which is exceedingly durable and long-lived. It will thus be seen that this embodiment of the invention fulfils, among others, the objects above enumerated.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this inven- 'tion could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It i also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

v 1. A tire comprising, in combination a plurality of lapping transversely curved resilient sections the extremities of which sec- .tions are curved in the opposite direction from the ad acent intermediate portion thereof, the curved extremities of the sections relatively interlocking circumferentially of the tire.

2. A metallic tire comprising, in combination a plurality of transversely curved resilient sections, each section comprising transverse arcuate portions of different size and an, intermediate shouldered portion, the portion of one size of one section lapping the portion of different size of adjacent sections, the extremities of each section being curved in opposite directions from the adjacent intermediate portion thereof, the curved extremities of the sections relatively interlocking circuinferentially of the tire.

3. A metallic tire comprising, in combination a plurality of transversely curved resilient sections, each section comprising transverse arcuate portions of different size and an intermediate shouldered portion, the and the transverse edges of adjacent secportion of one size of one section lapping tions being spaced from each other. 10 the portion of different size of adjacent sec- In testimony whereof I aifix my signations, the extremities of each section being ture, in the presence of two Witnesses.

curved in opposite directions from the adja- LEWIS WARFIELD.

cent intermediate portion thereof, the \Vitnesses:

curved extremities of the sections relatively R. W. FRANCE,

interlocln'ng circumferentially of the tire ROBERT S. BLAIR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

